Pubdate: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 Date: 03/30/2000 Source: Los Angeles Times (CA) Author: Shaee Khatapoush Note: Headline modified for clarity by editor Your March 27 editorial, "Congress Must Act on Colombia," advocates another act of aggression by the U.S government on a Third World country, this time in the name of fighting drugs. The $1.3 billion in military aid to Colombia would benefit Occidental Petroleum and the U.S military corporations that are lobbying steadily in Washington. The $1.3 billion in American tax dollars could be used for drug treatment and other programs to fight drug use. Human rights organizations have found links between the Colombian military and paramilitary death squads and the massacre of noncombatants, including members of religious communities. Indigenous people were forced out of their lands for the purpose of oil drilling by corporations. A look at the history of U.S. interventions in Latin America should give us pause rather than reason to plunge into violence against innocent people. Basta! Shaee Khatapoush, Los Angeles